Gotta love the Bitter Cold

[topdawg1817]

Don't you just love the bitter cold. When it is so cold out that your vehicles won't start. With our cold spell right now I have a van that is being stubborn and doesn't want to start. Been trying everything so far with no luck. Have the battery charger on it along with a magnetic oil pan heater and HEET in the gas tank. Hoping that these things will finally do it.

Anyone else have any other suggestions.

 

[arks]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

A heated garage!

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Years ago I had an old truck that was like that. I used to run a drop cord with a 100 watt light bulb and rest it near the manifold all night. That little bit of heat worked like a charm.

 

[JB]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

When I lived in the frozen North (IL and MN) I always had a block heater and a long extension cord. Also had an employer that had AC outlets on posts in the parking lot.

When I had a Diesel I just left it idling all the time. It would idle for 8-10 hours on less than a gallon of fuel, but made a huge cloud of black smoke when I drove away.:redface:

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Disconnect the battery and bring it in the house. If your plugs get wet your either going to have ot pull them or wait until it is warm enough so that it will turn over fast enough to start. You may have to pull them anyway..

all depends on what the van is doing. does it turn over? Does catch but just not start?

Those who have never started their car in -14 weather as I did this past weekend will never know how stiff their car can feel. When it takes significant effort just to put the car in gear..

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

You are doing the right things..... the magnetic pan heater is a good tool but it should be on ALL night. I even have used a dipstick heater too along with the block heater...... but the best were my trucks that were equipped with block heaters for the coolant.

I run 5w-30 in my vehicles w/o exception in the winter.

Another good practice is to block the wind from under the van ...... I have used blue plastic tarps.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

I agree with the block heater suggestion. When it's below zero even if you can get your engine to start it's very hard on it. I have my block heater on a timer so it warms the truck up a few hours in the morning before I go to start it.

Your van should really start anyway if you have kept the maintenance up. I once had a 70 F250 that was the old farm truck. It had a 10 year old battery in it that on days of bitter cold would only spin the engine over 5 times. No problem, I only needed three. I knew the truck and how to start it. If I remember right on that one you went out in the morning, slowly pushed the gas pedal down, slowly released it, and it would fire after 3 cranks. Then you had to push the gas pedal down slowly about 1 millimeter to keep it running. This was critical. If you went to far to fast it would die again. But, because it had fired once you could get it to restart. Then you had to let it run at very high idle (while your but was freezing to the vinyl seat) for about one minute. After that you could slightly depress the gas to kick it down to slightly high idle and go in the house to drink a cup of coffee while it, and you, warmed up some.

You kids these days are all spoiled. jk

 

[DJ]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

That brings back memories of my days in MI and MN. Plus, I frequently traveled the Dakotas. -40 was not unheard of.

I used block heaters. Never had an issue. Pan heaters and battery warmers were common on heavy equipment along with block heaters.

Don't get frisky with your steering, at that temp., I've seen cold P/S fluid blow off lines.

 

[Pony]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

I think I have always just been lucky. I have never had a block heater or anything at all for that matter......just a good battery.

Truck started fine 2 years ago at -34F, last year at -24F and this morning at -12F........

Of coarse I say this now, and tomorow morning my truck wont start......

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

All I can say is ya'll are crazy to live where it gets that dang cold. When the temps drop to the 20's here its like the world is coming to an end. Grocery stores are bare of everything!

 

[cbac]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

If it ever gets that cold down here I'm staying in the house looking for other signs of the Apacolypse and writing multiple EMails to Al Gore.

 

[dave11]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Spray some ether in the breather, then crank it over. If it doesn't start then, you have other problems.

 

[topdawg1817]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Well I finally got it started last night after getting home from work & having the heater on it all day. Then made sure to remind the wife to not let the gas tank go so low again. I just wish the warmer weathere was around the corner, but I don't see that happening. Atleast we did get over 0 this morning.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Please revise your profile to let us know where you are, TopDawg. Also, I assume you're talking about a gas engine, not diesel.

I remember growing up in SE Minnesota. Every year there'd be 2-3 weeks mid to late January with the *high* of -20*. We never had block heaters, dipstick heaters, or anything. We did have a battery charger if we needed it. We never had a problem starting (the car that is ). Some people would put blankets over their engines when they got home at night to try and preserve engine heat. Of course, friends from central or nothern Minnesota near Frostbite Falls had to have the block heaters etc.

Where I've been the last 35 years the winters are a lot milder -- it only gets to about -10* a few days a year.

You might have hit on a problem, though, when you indicated the gas tank wasn't full. That may have introduced some condensation and resultant moisture freezing.

Glad to hear you finally got it going.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Give it an extra dose of dry gas if the tank was that low.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

When I lived in the frozen midwest, if I had a hard cold starter, I would add one of those cannister inline heater hose deals. Worked like a champ..keeps the whole block warm. JC Whitney probably sells 'em.
Another way, stick a forced air Propane torpedo heater in the front...wait 1/2 hour

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

When I was young and poor I had this "crazy friend Scott". Anyway he had a 73 Duster with a slant 6. Dammed good car that was. Anyway, he could not afford a new battery for the car so he would take two dead ones in the house every night and spend all night charging them with a trickle charger. Then the next day he would take them out and try to start the car with them. Sometimes this worked. But quite often he would end up calling me for a jump start.

 

[newbie4life]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

Another way, stick a forced air Propane torpedo heater in the front...wait 1/2 hour

Yeah, um... be careful with this idea. I knew a lady once whose husband was a bone-head. Decided to put the turbo heater in front of his car to thaw it out, so it would start.

Do you know most of these cars today have plastic front ends? Yeah. His grill was a puddle on the floor. Moron.

As for combating the cold? I'm so sick and tired of it this year, it's pathetic. 2 horses died (one just last night), everything's frozen, spend most of your day/night just trying to keep everything warm. Came home from work today, and the fire went out in the woodstove, and dropped to 59 degrees in the house. Now, can work all evening to get it back up to temperature. Get a fire going in the woodstove in the garage, so the cars thaw out overnight. Watering cattle is fun right now too... -20 yesterday morning, and by the time you roll out the hose, it's frozen. Go to the woodshed/woods in a foot or more of snow... get stuck. Can't keep a vehicle clean for nothing. Don't see the sun for days at a time. Everyone's as ornery as a rattle snake. Don't want to burn wood? Burn gas... costs (conservatively) $300 a month right now to keep everything warmer... still not warm.

Get up at midnight to fire the furnace again.... then at 4 a.m. That's just the things that DO happen. How 'bout the things that MIGHT happen... like February around here, drive down the streets in town, and every other street is being 'ripped up'. Frozen water lines, because we didn't get the snow, before we got the cold, and those lines that are only 4 - 6 feet deep, freeze up.

This happened at my other house, before I decided to build this one. Woke up one morning, it was -10, and I had the only house in the neighborhood that had grass. Water ran all night, and permeated up through the yard. Thought it was cool... until it froze. Even with a frost bucket on the backhoe, it was near IMPOSSIBLE to get through the layer of frost.

And yet, here I am. I do know that my days up here in the north country are numbered. I'd like to think it's in the 100 to 200, but I'm afraid with all the family, it's more like 10,000.

 

[beezee28]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

love the south and moving to Florida when i can. That is way toooo cold -10 everyday for a month, Not use to cold, cold weather as I love the warm weather. Right now it is about 40 degree F where I am and I am already complaining it is cold, don;t know how you folks can bear the cold weather up north. More power to y'all

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Gotta love the Bitter Cold

I fished this weekend on the Minnesota Canada border. Temps were between -27 and got as high as about 2 above. Fished three days and did real well. Caught a 25 inch walleye, a bunch of sauger and the largest perch I have ever seen. I fish a portable and have to travel probably about 300 yards then drill holes and set up. The weather is not a problem if you dress for it. My wife wants to move to Arizona and I want to move to the Canada border. I was impressed with the explorer. Started every time and did real well in sub artic temps and gave me 1000 miles of trouble free driving.